About this title: In an alternate 1985, superheroes have existed for more than 30 years and have endured the gamut of public opinion--from acceptance to polite disdain to outright hostility. Now someone is killing the second generation of superheroes, and, as the threat of nuclear holocaust looms over a dystopic world, the killer must be found before it's too late. ...
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Note: This is a general synopsis. Each listing is described below.
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: DC Comics
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781401207137ISBN:1401207138
Description: Good. In original box cover, dust jacket in good condition, box cover slightly worn and bent, corners/edges slightly worn and bent. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: DC COMICS, New York
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781401207137ISBN:1401207138
Description: GIBBONS, DAVE. New in As New-In Slipcase jacket. Folio-over 12"-15" tall. HB-FINE/FINE/FINE (New-Sealed in publisher's shrinkwrap)-The Greatest comic story ever told, given the royal treatment it deserves! ! ! -Features digitally remastered line art, brand new coloring + 48 pages of extra material that 1st. appeared in the Graphitti Designs edition of Watchmen...-Coming Soon to a theatre near you... read more
Binding: Hardbound
Publisher: DC Comics, New York
Date Published: 2005
ISBN-13:9781401207137ISBN:1401207138
Description: Color cartoon strips. Near Fine/Near Fine. Black w/ red and yellow title at spine. Slight shelf wear. Book comes in boxed slipcase. read more
Description: Very good. Used, remainders or ex-library, english-speaking-service, Gebraucht oder Verlagsrestbestand, evtl. aus Bibliotheksbestand, bei mehrbändigen Werken bitten wir um vorherige Anfrage, korrekte Rechnung mit ausgewiesener MwSt., deutschsprachiger Service, 14-Tage-Rückgaberecht. read more
"I was told and told and told again that I must read this as my introduction to the graphic novel genre. There were a few dissident voices for Sandman, but they were largely drowned out by the chorus for this piece. (Piece? Book doesn't feel right.)
It did take me a little bit to adjust myself to the storytelling method, but once I got into it, I was absolutely enthralled with it. I really loved about the first 3/4 of the plot- I loved the psychology of it all, and the nuanced, beautiful presentation of such, and just how visceral it was at times. It was everything it should have been and more. I think I would have been even more blown away by its ideas had I read this many years ago before I knew anything about the fantasy genre. But I know that this came first, and for that reason, I bow before its innovations. I still bow before its insightful method of presentation of the minds of these non-hero heroes and why they do the things that they do.
The only part I didn't like? Oddly, the part where the real action actually happens, the actual traditional comic book plot, the last 1/4. Maybe it was because I was much more fascinated by the character studies and the weaving of history into the stories of the characters. By the time I got to the last part, it felt like a let down for it to just fall back into genre. I also wrestled a bunch with at least part of the ending, but I'm sure that's what Alan Moore intended me to do.
I just feel like everything about this book has been said before, long before, and by people better qualified to talk about it than me, so really all I've got left to say is:
Everybody, you were right, and thank you. I'm very glad I read this."
"Hmm, what to say. I read this AFTER I saw the movie, which was sacrilege according to some fellow geeks on Twitter, but my definition of "Geek" is someone who doesn't do what people PRESSURE them to do :P They love what they love. So anyhoo I read this and I can summarize this way:
The Movie did a great summary of the plot while formulating a story that missed the subtext of the graphic novel entirely.
I enjoyed both, but after reading the graphic novel, it's almost sad how the impression you take away from the movie is nothing of what Alan Moore was trying to say about the world, society or these characters. So interesting."
"I'm prepared to get pelted with rotten vegetables and bricks and all manner of nasty things, but....Watchmen didn't really do anything for me. In fact, I was so "meh" about it that I had to go do some research in order to see if I could figure out just why, exactly, it's so acclaimed.
I found a very interesting thesis someone had written (if anyone would like to read it, comment and I'll try to find it again), which gave me some nice historical background on the history of comics in general and the evolution of superhero comics, and it did indeed explain to me why Watchmen would have rocked the comics industry's boat when it was first published, why people would have been in awe over the idea that superheroes aren't necessarily upstanding and perfect and admirable, and that comics could be a medium to tell a complex story.
However - I've never really been a superhero girl. Christopher Reeves Superman and Adam West Batman was about as into it as I got until the recent trend of superhero movies. 60s Batman was just for the camp, even as a kid, and Superman has always been far too Big Blue Boy Scout to really be interesting to me. The only comics I've ever read with any regularity until recently are Elfquest, Sandman, and Preacher.
What this means in relation to my reaction is that I've never had a preconcieved idea of what superheroes or comics are "supposed" to be. Watchmen didn't fly in the face of my dearly-held beliefs that superheroes are "supposed" to be better than "normal" people, more moral and capable and, well, heroic, because I didn't have those beliefs to be challenged. It didn't change my idea of what comics are "supposed" to be, because I've never considered comics incapable of complexity or moral ambiguity or sophistication. I've never thought comics are "just for kids".
I do understand, intellectually, that Sandman and Preacher quite possibly would not exist except for the success of Watchmen. However, since my experience was formed by reading comics that came after Watchmen, and I sought out the not-exactly-mainstream variety of comics, Watchmen was pretty much what I expect from comics, and in no way unusual.
Like I said, I can appreciate, historically, why it was unusual at the time. It's just not unusual in my experience, and therefore, I found it more or less average.
Also, sorry, I find the art dreadful and the resolution far, far too manufactured, and an unwieldly info-dump besides."
"Overall, these 2 quotes are the book in a nutshell:
Rorshack says in chapter 2, "Nothing is hopeless. Not while there's life." Extremely interesting considering the source.
Hollis Mason in his autobiography: "Real life is messy, inconsistent, and it's seldom when anything ever really gets resolved." So is this book!
One of the major themes is whether to act or be disengaged. A small subplot that demonstrates this is the story of Malcolm, Rorschach's prison psychiatrist, and his wife, Gloria. He gets so involved with his patients that he ruins his marriage and ends up in a deep despair (prompted by Rorschach's poisonous mentality). Yet at the end, in Chapter 11, when he sees a woman being assaulted in the street he cannot walk away, even though Gloria demands it on pain of losing her forever. She tells him on page 20, "Don't you dare get involved..." and he replies, "...I have to. In a world like this... I mean, it's all we can do, try to help each other. It's all that means anything..."
This reflects back to Rorschach's remembrance of Kitty Genovese's story and it's impact on his becoming a masked vigilante. I identified with this because it's a story I never forgot. We learned about it in school as kids, the story of the woman brutally raped and murdered while more than 30 of her neighbors watched or listened from the safety of their homes and did nothing, not even calling the police. I think of it every time I hear a disturbance outside of my house, wondering if this is the time I need to get involved, if it's just kids horsing around or a serious problem and what I should do.
The other major theme I identified is whether it is ever possible to do good by doing evil. Hiroshima (questionable), the final reveal in this book (clear-cut to me). And Guantanamo (also clear-cut to me). I have to reject the idea that anything good can ever come from acts of torture or devastation. I think what's happened in this country with the election of President Obama shows that there is hope for a positive path forward, that the use of fear and hatred as a motivation isn't the only option. Despair can be contagious, but so can hope.
But what about the basic concept of vigilante justice? Is it ever ok to break the law? Doesn't that encourage the dissolution of the basic compact of law that holds society together? Yet is it right to sit back and not act if you see something that needs to be done? Are there ways to work within the system to improve things? What happens when the system fails?
A picky detail that bothered me throughout the book was the weird bolding of words. It often didn't seem to be for emphasis or make sense.
The discussion of costume issues by Nite Owl was interesting - armor safety vs. flexibility, how to use a mask without getting caught, capes can be dangerous, too. I've always wondered how each superhero makes their costume, how many they have, how they get the blood out, etc. Not everyone has a mom back in Iowa who can sew! I liked that Nite Owl doesn't take it too seriously, understood that guys in costumes look silly.
Overall, a very complex, fascinating and enjoyable book that I would wholeheartedly recommend."
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